BAGHDAD: Iraqi worshippers dropped money in boxes and gave up their jewelry yesterday as leaders called for donations to help Palestinians suffering under an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr urged followers and other Iraqis to donate food, money and medicine while aides criticized the international community, particularly Arab leaders, for failing to stop the military action.
Sadr’s spokesman Sheikh Salah Al-Obeidi urged people to take their donations to Sadr’s offices in Baghdad, Basra, Najaf and Kut by Thursday.
About 200 people complied yesterday, with women offering jewelry and children bringing in money as well as people providing rice and sugar, according to Aqeel Al-Bahadili, a media official with Sadr’s Basra office.
Protesters also took to the streets after Friday prayers in Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish areas. Shiite worshippers burned an Israeli flag and chanted “No, no to America! No, no to Israel!” in Baghdad’s main Sadrist stronghold of Sadr City. Palestinian flags also were hoisted on buildings in the Shiite southern cities of Najaf and Amarah.
Sunni preacher Sheikh Abdul-Sattar Abdul-Jabar called on worshippers to offer financial aid for the Palestinians.
Hundreds of people — including prominent Sunni politician Adnan Al-Dulaimi — then lined up to put money in boxes in the courtyard of the Sunni mosque.
